Chapter 3 – Developing strategy (practical requirements)

Question 1

How does Maccoby (2017) define leadership?

Answer 1

a leader is someone with followers. If there are no followers, there is no one to lead, and even if you are in a position of significant authority you cannot be classed as a leader

Question 2

John Adair (1979) talks about ‘action centred leadership’ suggesting that good leaders should have full command of which three main areas?

Answer 2

1. Individual
2. Group
3. Task

Every leadership decision will emanate from one of these three aspects, and the effective leader will be able to take decisions to ensure that all three perspectives are satisfied appropriately.

Question 3

Johnson et al (2017) notes two types of leadership styles. What are they?

Answer 3

1. A transformational leader will focus on building of the strategic vision, the creation of identity and empowerment, and the development of an appropriate culture e.g. original inspiring entrepreneur behind organisation such as Steve Jobs at Apple.
2. A transactional leader is generally more concerned with making sure that the operational flow is appropriate to enable the strategy to be achieved. The term ‘transaction’ refers to the motivation of followers by the exchange of reward for performance. E.g. the leadership of Fred Goodwin at RBS before the 2007 financial crisis could be identified as transactional; the bank was seen as a series of high-profile operations with significant levels of reward for success.

Question 4

According to Shoemaker at al, what are the six essential skills required for a strategic leader? ACIDAL

Answer 4

1. Anticipate – constant vigilance – ability to scan the environment for signals of change
2. Challenge – perpetual questioning of the status quo
3. Interpret – analyse, challenge and synthesise ambiguous data
4. Decide – ability and confidence to identify the appropriate decisions
5. Align – bringing together of differing stakeholder expectations through communication
6. Learn – promotion of a learning culture

Question 5

According to Covey, the basic task of leadership is to increase the standard of living and the quality of life for all stakeholders. What are the four core dimensions that are required to be an effective leader? SGPW

Answer 5

1. Security - A strategic leader will need to be secure in their own knowledge and their ability to lead others
2. Guidance - develop the ability to communicate with the different parties who will be looking to them for guidance and have a sufficient breadth of awareness to guide others in the optimal strategic direction
3. Power - must learn how to use that power for the benefit of the individual, the team and the task (linked to Adair’s concept) as the strategic leader will be influencing all three
4. Wisdom - must find the time to think before acting and therefore bringing their wisdom into their strategic

Question 6

What is Senge’s fivefold learning organisation model?

Answer 6

1. **Personal Mastery **– organisations learn only through individuals who learn – each individual should be encouraged to develop their own particular, unique skill set to the point where they develop a personal mastery of their specific areas of expertise
2. Mental models
   a. This requires the ability to visualise a combination of the ‘today’ and the ‘future’
   b. This will stretch the mind of each individual and potential of the organisation by encouraging individuals to build a holistic vision that can be explained to others
3. Shared vision - Each individual needs to be encouraged to develop their communication ability to share their vision and their mental models with others. The strategic leader must encourage individuals to share their vision and mental model with others
4. Team learning – process of aligning and developing capacities of a team, where people act together to create results they all desire
5. Systemic thinking - a more constant interrogative approach now being taken by the empowered group team

Question 7

What is a SWOT analysis?

Answer 7

The strengths and weaknesses of an organisation are predominantly based around the internal drivers, whereas opportunities and threats are based around external drivers.

Question 8

What is supply-chain thinking?

Answer 8

To think strategically, one must be able to understand and assess the strategic significance of the three underpinning aspects of an organisational supply chain: inputs, transformation and outputs.

Question 9

How is strategy assigned to directors according to the companies act 2006?

Answer 9

s.172 of the Companies Act gives each director the duty to promote the success of the company – therefore, each director is in some way involved with the establishment and oversight of strategy within the organisation